Studies have found that orally supplementing the body's supply of Coenzyme Q10 can offer numerous health benefits for heart health, eliminating migraine headaches, easing the suffering from cancer treatments, lowering blood pressure and many more. Yet sceptics question the value of taking Coenzyme Q10 in pill form. They contend that it loses its potency while traveling through the digestive tract.

How did it get discovered?

‘The discovery of Coenzyme Q10 occurred in 1957 with the work of Professor Fredrick L. Crane and his team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. A year later Dr. Karl Folkers properly identified the chemical structure of the nutrient. Inquiry into the health benefits of Coenzyme Q10 did not widely occur until the 1980s, and as a result, the nutrient did not begin appearing in skin care products until the 1990s and early 2000s.’

How does it help in skin care products?

Coenzyme Q10 has exceptional antioxidant properties. Studies have shown that it can effectively counteract free radical damage and provide significant protection against UVA-induced depletion of cell membrane. This function helps to prevent damage to collagen and elastin production process and help you avoid wrinkles.In most people over thirty Coenzyme Q10 levels start to sink, resulting in a lesser ability to produce collagen and other important skin molecules.

The ingredient is used widely in skin systems intended to prevent aging and to make existing wrinkles less noticeable. The nutrient is also used in stand-alone skin care treatments, such as masks, serums and lotions. Most skin care experts agree that in order for a product to offer real benefits it must contain a concentration of at least .5 percent Coenzyme Q10.

Since Coenzyme Q10 has a deep orange colour, skin creams and lotions become usually slightly yellowish or orange if there is a biologically significant amount of Coenzyme Q10 in the product. Thus, the colour of a product gives you a hint whether the product contains significant amounts of Coenzyme Q10 or not.

How does it get produced?

‘There are several ways to manufacture CoQ10:

• Extraction from Natural Resources: Since CoQ10 occurs at very low concentrations in natural resources and is extremely difficult to purify, industrial manufacture of natural CoQ10 is not a practical option and would lead to exorbitant prices.

• Chemical Synthesis from a Natural Derivative: CoQ10 can be synthesize by using solanesol, an extracted from plant material from the Eggplant family, which is converted to a nine-isoprenoid compound (decaprenol) and reacted with hydroquinone to produce CoQ10.

• Microorganism Method: Microorganisms such as yeast or bacteria can be stimulated to produce repeated mutations, thereby enhancing their capacity to synthesize CoQ10.’

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